Anglesea waste and resource recovery facility
Surf Coast Shire spent $1.9 million reconfiguring a site that had been landfilling since 1974, and removed the need for drivers to reverse. Published by Sustainability Victoria in July 2016 as one of five case studies alongside its Guide to Better Practice at Resource Recovery Centres. Rawtec produced this case study in collaboration with Sustainability Victoria.
Summary published
Surf Coast Shire spent $1.9 million reconfiguring a site that had been landfilling since 1974. Its volunteer resale shed recorded 1,020 sales in a single year.
The old bin bays were dead-end platforms, which meant drivers reversed. Stage one built a 30-metre retaining wall and three concrete bays so vehicles no longer had to back up, and staff could actually see the drop-off area.
Resale shed revenue is split across eleven community groups on a fixed formula.
Total upgrade project value
Resale shed sales, April 2015 to April 2016
Recycling streams accepted
Community groups sharing the revenue
What the numbers show
Tonnages and staged funding
The resource recovery facility handled 2,409 tonnes to landfill and 924 tonnes recycled. The landfill on the same site took 6,734 tonnes of kerbside waste and 11,611 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste.
Stage one cost $500,000, funded entirely by Surf Coast Shire. Stage two cost $663,595 excluding design, of which Sustainability Victoria contributed $200,000. Total expenditure at the time of publication was $1,163,595 against a $1.9 million project.
How the resale shed works
Of what the resale shed handles, 50% is furniture, 20% appliances, 10% building materials, 10% miscellaneous and 10% items the document files under unusual.
Council retains 10% of gross revenue. Five per cent goes to direct welfare services, 10% to Anglesea Community House, and 5% to groups actively directing large goods to the shed. The remaining 80% is distributed pro-rata across participating groups.
Volunteers sort and price stock, with a minimum of $2 per item, and sales are recorded through the council’s existing weighbridge software. No new system was needed.
The gate operator checks donated items are saleable and charges a reduced disposal fee on donations. Staff also pull suitable items back out of the drop-off bays before they are lost to a skip.
What they would do differently
The document advises: “where possible, keep new structures clear of any landfilled waste.”
Wind and rain cover for the drop-off bays was listed as the next priority, along with sealing more of the road and the ground around the shed.
Heavy items cannot be moved on an unsealed surface, which limits what volunteers can physically handle.
The last item on the list is a long-term plan for recruiting and mentoring volunteers.
Throughput and cost figures are as printed in the case study. The resale figures cover April 2015 to April 2016 and are sales counts, not tonnages — the document does not report the weight diverted by the shed.
The rest of the series
Four more Victorian facilities and the guide the series was published to support.
The case study includes the full list of accepted and excluded materials and the resale shed’s operating arrangements.
Planning a facility upgrade?
Most facility projects start with someone who already knows the site needs to change and needs the evidence to get it funded. If that is you, we would like to hear from you.